Photo Quiz
Ugh, why did I eat so much at the State Fair...my stomach is staging a rebellion, the likes of which haven't been seen since the days of Luke Skywalker.
Here's a photo quiz. All the photos are of the same bird, just at different angles and some with flash and some without. First correct answer in the comment section wins a Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion.
On another note:
I am wrapping up my time as an employee of Eagle Optics--it was a great job but some parts of the telecommuting weren't working as well as they could have. We kicked around the idea of moving to Madison but Cinnamon just would not approve--she was worried she might lose street cred for being a cheese head bunny and be mistaken as a Packer fan. Plus, it would make KARE 11 and fm107 apprearances way too challenging--and I don't even want to think about how hard it would be to find someone who is as excellent at coloring my hair as Rachel at Studio 411. I still plan on purchasing optics from them in the future and to help and support Eagle Optics in any way that I can.
Here's a photo quiz. All the photos are of the same bird, just at different angles and some with flash and some without. First correct answer in the comment section wins a Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion.
On another note:
I am wrapping up my time as an employee of Eagle Optics--it was a great job but some parts of the telecommuting weren't working as well as they could have. We kicked around the idea of moving to Madison but Cinnamon just would not approve--she was worried she might lose street cred for being a cheese head bunny and be mistaken as a Packer fan. Plus, it would make KARE 11 and fm107 apprearances way too challenging--and I don't even want to think about how hard it would be to find someone who is as excellent at coloring my hair as Rachel at Studio 411. I still plan on purchasing optics from them in the future and to help and support Eagle Optics in any way that I can.
posted by birdchick at 11:09 AM
12 Comments:
It is a Swainson's Thrush!
Dawn
Bicknell's, maybe? Not brown enough to be a veery.
If it is a Minnesota bird, then I'd have to vote with Dawn.
Caroline in SD
I'd identify this bird in the field as a Gray-cheeked Thrush, notwithstanding the yellowish wash across the breast apparent in some of these photos. In hand, of course, mensural features (including wing formula) will distinguish them neatly. But this individual is a fine illustration of how Catharus thrush identification is actually much more challenging than we thought back in the days when all we knew was summarized in Petersonian arrows.
Eagle Optics will certainly miss you.
Hermit Thrush
I'm going with gray-cheeked thrush, based in large part on its huge eyes, delicate bill and overall diminutive size.Not red enough for a veery.No buffy eye ring,which it would need to be a Swainson's. Buffy breast wash can be a fall thing. Those things are tiny! Seems like they're half the size of a wood thrush. Hold the book, I've already got it.
Swainson's
So sorry about your tummy...hope it gets better soon. Lay off those Scotch eggs, woman!
I don't even try to make a guess with your quizes anymore. But my ID skills must be improving...at least I knew it was some sort of thrush.
If you are moving, I can vouch that Ohio is beautiful in every season, except for summer. **wiping sweat from my brow**
anonymous started to identify the bird but was non-committal. Then Julie named the bird, but doesn't want the book. I'll have to save it for another contest. NBB just came up with a good idea for the next contest.
It is a gray-cheeked thrush.
WooHoo! I guessed Gray-Cheeked Thrush before I read the comments. And then I read Julie Zickefoose's comment. (I just thought that the picture in my field guide looked more like the bird than any other picture.)
Assuming the colors on my screen are correct, this is actually a dark Veery. Note the blurriness of the breast spots (which are brownish, not sharp and black as in Gray-cheeked) and the pinkish base to the mandible (should be yellowish in Gray-cheek).
In the articles that Al Jaramillo and I wrote for Birding oh so long ago, we published a photo of a similar bird from British Columbia which illicited a lot of outcry from many experts. I think many people simply don't believe that dark Veerys exist, but lo, they are out there, and this is one!
Great photos, thanks for sharing!
Good birding,
Dan Lane
LSU Museum of Natural Science and Field Guides Inc.
Hi there Birdchick and friends.
Dan Lane wondered what I thought, and I agree with him. This must be a Western Veery. They are quite unlike the eastern birds, but variable. Some are less spotted and paler above, others are darker above and more spotted below. Dark Veery is the problem bird that got Dan and I independently thinking about identification of Catharus thrushes which eventually resulted in our long-winded but hopefully somewhat useful article in Birding ages ago. I was once banding with Dave Beadle near Long Point, Ontario in the late summer and we caught two birds that had pretty short wing chords which we identified as Bicknell's Thrush. This would have been a real good record for this part of Ontario, so having two seemed almost too good. Eventually we decided that these were veeries which were much darker and more heavily spotted below than we were used to - the Western Veery subspecies we came to find out. Most birders have not had experience with this beast, but it is out there and it is really tricky. To make things even more confusing in Newfoundland there is a dark Veery as well. I think that Catharus thrush identification is extremely difficult when you start to include the various forms found throughout the continent, in some ways it is more difficult than Empidonax flycatchers.
In any case, I would add that this bird cannot be a Grey-cheeked Thrush (at least the widespread subspecies) because it is much too warm colored above. It may be warm enough to be a Bicknell's or Newfoundland Grey-cheek above, but then those warm and blurry streaks are there on the underparts and those are unlike the nicely defined blackish spots of all Bicknell's/Grey-cheeks. The combination of lack of eyering, and grey flanks eliminates Hermit, Swainson's from consideration.
Guess what? Long winded again on Catharus...even after all these years, I still got it!
good birding
Alvaro Jaramillo
chucao at coastside.net
I'm with Susan - "Some Kinda Thrush." The experts, Dan and Al, seem to know lots and lots about the subject, and I'm sure they are skilled birders, but what they don't realize is "Some Kinda Thrush" is actually much more common, both in the field and in hand, than veeries, Swainson's, hermit, and gray-cheeked thurshes combined. "Some Kinda Thrush" is seen daily, "Some Kinda Thrush" is native to every area, and "Some Kinda Thrush" is on everybody's life list. So, I think Susan wins!
Tongue firmly in cheek,
Kathi
PS: Anybody who eats a scotch egg gets what she deserves! [From someone who has gotten sick on her share of fair food. Corn dogs and salt water taffy come to mind.]
~K
Post a Comment
<< Home